


Rest Your Head Close to My Heart (Never to Part)

by NoelleAngelFyre



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Arguing over baby names, Becoming Parents, Caitlin Snow is Killer Frost, Childbirth/Labor, ColdFlash domestic fluff, Domestic Fluff, Eloping to Vegas (past/referenced), Emotional Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers (past/referenced), Established Relationship - ColdFlash, Established Relationship - GoldenVibe, Established Relationship - KillerWave, Estranged Parent/Child Relationship, F/M, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Female Friendship, Food craving, Gender Reveal (pregnancy), Gideon (DC's Legends of Tomorrow) - Freeform, Gideon (The Flash TV 2014) - Freeform, House Hunting, KillerWave domestic fluff, Lisa Snart is the world's best god-mama, Little bundle of joy, M/M, Metahuman Caitlin Snow, Reunions, Secret Relationship, Shopping sprees, Snart Sibling Fluff, Team as Family, The Joys of Pregnancy (or not), The pout (beware the pout!), Unexpected Pregnancy, discussion of past events, light banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26294614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoelleAngelFyre/pseuds/NoelleAngelFyre
Summary: “Yeah, I’d say it’s pretty serious.” Caitlin dabs at her face and nose furiously, then rubs fingers tight through her hair and locks them around her neck before pushing out a sigh; Barry’s heart is in his throat when she finally whispers, “…I’m pregnant.”________________________________________________________________With Len and Mick traipsing across the timeline, Barry, Cisco, and Lisa are left to guide Caitlin through a rather delicate condition.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Caitlin Snow & Cisco Ramon, Barry Allen & Lisa Snart, Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Cisco Ramon/Lisa Snart, Lisa Snart & Caitlin Snow, Mick Rory/Caitlin Snow
Comments: 8
Kudos: 127





	1. A Delicate Situation

**Author's Note:**

> In honor of my birthday month, I've decided to share one of my favorite little projects thus far: KillerWave babyfic! Set during season 1 of "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," with obvious canon divergence and AU elements. It's essentially a self-indulgent piece of domestic fluff - hoping it brings my readers a little bit of joy.
> 
> Title comes from "Baby Mine" - yes, I'm a sap.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

“Leave it off. Please.”

Barry pauses, hand suspended mid-reach for the light switch, and turns to the far corner. In the light weakly filtered in from the hallway, he can see Caitlin sitting on the floor, knees tight to her chest and fingers clutching at the air. Her face is streaked wet.

“Caitlin, why are you in the dark?” he lowers to his knees beside her, “What’s wrong?”

She opens her mouth, then looks vaguely sick and clamps it shut again. Fresh tears squeeze out of her eyes and roll in fat drops along both cheeks. Acting on pure instinct, Barry surges forward and wraps an arm around her shoulders. “Cisco!”

Cisco is at the door in record time, “Barry, what…?” he stops, sees Caitlin, and immediately follows Barry’s lead to frame Caitlin between them in the corner. She seems to relax, just a bit, at being surrounded. Barry wonders if it feels like a defensive wall protecting her on all side from whatever pain is producing those tears.

He hopes such is the case. That’s how this relationship works, after all. This is what the relationship thrives on: the three of them, protecting each other’s secrets and hopes and dreams and loves – especially loves – within the carefully knitted sphere they’ve constructed around their joined lives.

“There we go…just breathe.” Cisco rubs her shoulder, right below Barry’s hand, with an easy smile on his face, “Now, what’s the deal? Did you go to the doctor like we told you to?”

“Yeah.” She sniffs. Cisco hands her a tissue then nudges the trash bin a little closer – just in case.

Panic rises inside Barry’s chest before he can stamp it down. “What…what did they say? Is it serious?” his brain, always on overdrive, flies into frantic imaginings of the worst magnitude. It seemed like a simple bug at first, nothing to worry about, until it went on for days…then weeks. Much as they would have preferred to keep this in-house, neither he nor Cisco are doctors – although now Barry is seriously considering medical school.

“Yeah, I’d say it’s pretty serious.” Caitlin dabs at her face and nose furiously, then rubs fingers tight through her hair and locks them around her neck before pushing out a sigh; Barry’s heart is in his throat when she finally whispers, “…I’m pregnant.”

Cisco’s jaw unhinges in a way which, under different circumstances, would be hilarious. Barry is the first to recover, only because he mentally slaps himself out of the stunned stupor. “…Okay. Okay.” He clears his throat, “This…this is gonna be okay, Caitlin.” He tries for a smile and manages a degree of success, “I mean…think of how much love this baby is going to have when he – or she – is born. There’s a whole family unit ready to welcome it with open arms.”

“No. Not a ‘whole’ family unit.” Her voice is tight, agitated, and Barry already knows what’s coming next, “Because my baby needs its daddy, and I need my husband. But I don’t have him,” she throws the used tissue into the bin with unnecessary force, “because Len convinced him to go play heroes – and so help me _God_ , if he gets Mick killed before our baby is born, I’m going to kill HIM!”

“If that happens, you can have what’s left of Len when I’m finished.” Barry kisses her forehead, unbothered by the white streaks appearing in her brown hair or the distinct chill to her skin, “Now calm down…spiking your blood pressure isn’t good for the little one.”

He feels tension ripple through her limbs, then she exhales forcefully and slumps into his waiting embrace. Cisco hands over the entire tissue box this time, then pulls out his phone, “I’m gonna call Lisa. See if I can convince her to leave the Coast City job early.”

Caitlin sniffs, more subdued, and mumbles a weak ‘Thanks’. Cisco steps out of the room, right about the same time as the call is answered. The voices are muffled around the corner, but Barry can still hear a pitched squeal of delight from the other line. Judging by the tiny uplift to Caitlin’s mouth, where it’s currently pressed to his shoulder, she heard it too.

“Lisa will be back by the morning.” Cisco announces, pocketing his phone and resuming the earlier spot, “Pretty sure she’s going to hit up Babies R Us on the way home.”

For the first time in the last twenty minutes, Caitlin laughs.


	2. Changing the Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> House-hunting, food cravings, and heightened sensitivity to certain smells: isn't the first trimester a joy?

If Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco collectively live at random safehouses throughout the city more than they do their respective apartments, then the time has finally come to start a new chapter and declare each other roommates. It will be a cohesion of living styles, personal quirks, and character traits which will somehow mesh together and on occasion result in arguments that may or may not level the foundations.

“I’m telling you guys, we need to look at this another way.” Cisco pops the cap on his soda, “No apartment is gonna accommodate all six of us. We’d have to lease half the complex.”

They’ve been at it for three days. Lisa came back to town for the latter two, freshly tussled from her motorcycle and looking appropriately smug for a woman who just emptied half the ATM’s in Coast City. She did not, in fact, make a stop at Babies R Us, but only because Barry insisted they have a place to actually put the (stolen) property before Lisa starts plucking items off the shelves.

“Okay, so maybe it’s time we step up the game.” Caitlin suckles at the orange-flavored Ring Pop on her right hand. “We’re not fresh off the college campus anymore…why don’t we start looking at property?”

“That’s a pretty big step, Cait.” Cisco says, albeit not with enough hesitation to sell the protest.

“I think the bigger step taken in this equation,” Barry speaks up from where he’s skimming through online property ads, “was when the three of us decided to start sleeping with Central City’s most wanted criminals – and then married them during an impromptu jaunt in Vegas. By comparison, putting down roots is a cakewalk.”

“You make it all sound so scandalous, Barry.” Lisa chirps, waltzing in with her usual impeccable timing, to-go bags swinging from her arms, “This all started because we delicately offered an option to you guys and leave it open for acceptance. Everything to follow was simply…divine intervention.”

“Your brother pinning me to a wall after he pulled the fire alarm in a bank is about as delicate as Mick putting his hand up Caitlin’s blouse at the bar.” Barry smirks over his computer screen, “To say nothing of you playing footsie with Cisco at Jitters.”

“That wasn’t my foot.” Lisa grins to match the Cheshire Cat and plops down on the floor beside Caitlin. The remaining open space among them is filled with boxes from three different restaurants around town – which is about on par for the usual dining experience when Len and Mick are here and not doing things which Barry specifically told Len _not_ to do. Like, play hero in a timeline far, far away.

“And however delicate the initial ‘offer’ may have been,” Barry continues with the same look, “the fact remains, it was you three who booked a weekend in Sin City just so you could propose to us with prime examples of felony larceny.”

“The cops cannot prove these,” Lisa proudly showcases the glittering ensemble around her finger, “are stolen property. As far as anyone cares to know, we paid honest money for each and every one.”

“Sure, babe,” Cisco nods, sipping his soda, “these, and the original Monet hanging in your bedroom.”

“Well, if we’re really doing to do this,” ever the pragmatic one, Caitlin daintily steers the conversation back on track; she reaches out and plucks up her notepad, already with three pages filled with tidy notes and memos, and turns a new page, “we need to set different parameters. A townhome or, if we’re going to take one additional step, a house is a very different purchase. There are neighborhood choices, HOA considerations, proximity to schools, and so on to consider. Not to mention, we have to make sure we’re willing to handle maintenance issues, and we all know who among the six of us is not fit to handle disruptions to daily routine.”

“Oh, come on, Caity,” Lisa waves a hand, “so Mick got a little upset when the dishwasher broke.”

“If by ‘little upset’ you mean, threatened to burn down the Maytag headquarters,” Caitlin rolls her eyes with clear affection, “then yes: he just got a little upset and in no way threatened to commit a major felony.”

“You wouldn’t love him any other way.” Lisa nudges her arm gently before dropping a hand to the flat plane of stomach under Caitlin’s blouse, “This little angel is proof of it.”

“I’m just calling it now,” Cisco says, “we are not living in an HOA. My parents had us live in one of those places when I was a kid and the restrictions are ridiculous. Mick will lose his mind five minutes before I will.”

“Duly noted.” Caitlin makes a note on the pad, then looks back up at the group, “What’s next?”

***

“I hate Mexican food.” Caitlin mumbles around a mouthful of rice, “Why am I eating Mexican food three times a day?”

“Not to mention the Mongolian beef and Indian takeout and steakhouse delivery.” Lisa grins; one hand reaches down to gently stroke Caitlin’s stomach. She isn’t showing yet, but soon. Very soon. “Sounds like the little pumpkin picked up Daddy’s eating habits.”

Meaning, Mick Rory loves to eat. Loves to try different things. Barry quietly grins, remembering the numerous group date nights when Mick picked the place ahead of time, or something caught attention while they were wondering downtown and no amount of protests on Len’s part could dissuade him. Steakhouses, Mom-and-Pop diners, even little bar-and-grill types that were total holes-in-the-wall but no one can dispute the seasoning on those French fries.

“I’m gonna get fat.” Caitlin pouts, “Like, gigantic. I’ll be a blimp in three months.”

“Nonsense.” Lisa pecks her cheek and leaves a faint pink shimmer behind, “We’d never let you lose your girlish figure.”

Cisco chooses that minute to come back in the main area with a little skip in his step that promises good things. “So…the place is ours.” He grins, and Lisa claps her hands with beaming delight, “We’ll sign the lease tomorrow. Eighteen months with the option to renew or put in a bid to purchase the townhome for ourselves. Figure by then, we can address whose names should be on the deed. Specifically, those of us who have decent credit score.”

“Discrimination.” Lisa huffs with a dramatic toss of the head; hazel curls tumble over her shoulder and toss a burst of perfume in the air, “Not having a credit score does not mean I can’t properly provide for my god-kid.”

“What makes you think it’s _your_ god-kid?” Cisco huffs, dangerously close to a pout.

“All of you,” Caitlin motions around the room with both hands, “are the godparents. It’ll be a quartet – provided I don’t have to kill Len in the near future.” She pours half a bottle of water down her throat in one go, then adds, “I mean, really, who else am I going to entrust with my child’s wellbeing?”

“Uh…no one.” Lisa looks offended that this is even in question, “Who else can possibly teach the child how to cook and perform proper first aid treatment and clean up after itself – not to mention, make sure it has impeccable fashion sense, graduates from college, and of course is in possession of general life skills. How to case a bank in five minutes. How to crack a safe in ten moves or less. How to use a gun. When to use a gun. The best hiding places when you’re running from the cops.”

“So, what we’re saying here is,” Barry does his best to not roll his eyes, “this kid is gonna be a rogue version of James Bond.”

“Naturally.”

***

A heightened sense of smell does not serve great purpose for Caitlin’s profession as a doctor. The smell of ozone after Barry skids into the lab makes her stomach clench, and Cisco now has to eat his pizza in the other room after the first time made her bend over a trash can twice in five minutes.

“Maybe I should just live in a bubble for the next seven months.” Caitlin huffs, leaning back in her chair, and rubs a hand over her stomach. “Or you can put me in the pipeline. Just give me a blanket and about twenty pillows.”

“We’re not putting you in a bubble and we’re not putting you in the pipeline.” Barry sets a bottled water down beside her on the desk. She sets an idle touch to the plastic exterior and watches the water inside frost up immediately. “We will simply accommodate for the remaining stretch.”

“If you don’t kill me first.”

“No one is gonna kill you over a few late-night food cravings and the inability to be in the same room as a pizza.” He kisses the top of her head; she smells like winter, “Besides, you’ll start to really show soon. And then we’ll be able to tell the gender.”

He crouches down with a gentle grin and wraps an arm around her shoulders, “Which reminds me…what do you want? Boy or girl?”

“Haven’t really thought about it…”

“Yes, you have.” Barry croons, “Now, what do you want?”

Caitlin sips the chilled water, then shrugs with a weak grin, “…a boy.” The grin grows, a gentle light shimmering in her brown eyes, “A little boy who’s just like his daddy.”

“Here’s hoping.” Barry pecks her cheek, “Only two more months to find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just going to say this right now before I get a flood of comments on the subject: most of my knowledge about pregnancy comes from Google and the highly limited exposure I had to my older sister's pregnancies. I am NOT trying to pass this off as a legitimate account of bringing a bundle of joy into the world. Please don't take this too seriously.
> 
> Comments, as always, are love.


	3. ...And Time Marches On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlin's second trimester: a time of gender reveals, shopping sprees, and late-night searches on babynames.com.

Caitlin starts showing right after the third month: a precious little swell tucked under the fit of her blouse. With each advancing week of her pregnancy, she’s noticing other changes too. Granted, pregnancy is a time full of changes, but these aren’t going to be found in a copy of ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’. She gets hot even when there’s a distinct chill in the air, shrugging out of her blazer or unbuttoning her blouse nearly to the point of scandal, takes her water ice-cold from the freezer, and her skin feels cool to the touch even when she claims to be overheated.

“It’s only going to get worse.” Caitlin says, cradling her gentle bump in a hand, and bites into her lip, “I’m worried about the baby.”

“Caitlin, this was happening even before you got pregnant.” Barry takes her hands in both of his and kisses the knuckles, “Hell, considering how hot you are, even when you’re supposed to be ‘ice cold’ with your powers, I’m pretty sure this is how you _got pregnant_ in the first place.”

She bursts out laughing, “I’m afraid I can’t argue with that.” She lets Barry tug her closer until her thighs brush his knees, “…You really think the baby will be okay?”

“All you have to do is exactly what we talked about: don’t let yourself fear what’s happening to you.” Barry kisses her hands again, “Embrace it. Remember what Cisco and I told you?”

Her smile grows shy, “You showed me pictures of the Arctic. The ice disappearing in the water. The ice _under_ the water. The way the ice looks under the sunlight. And you told me…that’s what was going to happen to me. That’s how beautiful I was going to become.”

Brown eyes shimmer with tears, this time of joy, “Did you really mean it?”

“Of course we meant it.” Cisco pops around the corner, munching on a protein bar; he tosses Barry a bar for himself and drops into a chair, “You’re gonna be an Arctic bombshell. Mick’s not gonna be able to keep his hands to himself.”

“Not like he does anyway.” Caitlin drops her eyes to her stomach with a grin, “That’s how we got here, right?”

“Pretty sure this was a two-person job, Doctor Snow.” Barry grins, “Committed with your whole-hearted participation.”

She pops a shoulder with a cheeky little tilt of the head, “And then some.”

***

For being a doctor herself, Caitlin has little tolerance for waiting rooms. The walls are white or some god-awful color equally absent of character, the magazines smell funny, and the chairs aren’t comfy. And no one ever wants to make conversation; it’s like they think speaking might result in bad things. Bad things that don’t actually happen if you just ask someone how their day is going.

“Thank you for coming.” She murmurs, just to break the aggravation of silence.

“Are you kidding?” Lisa tosses the outdated Glamour magazine aside and squeezes Caitlin’s hand, “We shared a bathroom in the downtown safehouse for a month, sweetie. We’re practically sisters – and other things, with the number of times I’ve seen you naked.”

“You know people in this room already think we’re a couple, right?” Caitlin can’t help a tiny smirk, especially when a couple across the room gives a look which cements her statement, “You saying things like that doesn’t convince them otherwise.”

“Honey, let us examine the facts.” Lisa uses the tone which promises supreme sass or extreme drama – or a combination thereof, “The six of us were doing this for months – over a year, in fact – before we finally tied the knot. You and I shared a bathroom and a bed more than once because Cisco had a family function, Mick was blowing off steam, and neither of us wanted to sleep alone. Lenny held your hair back when you got wasted at New Year’s. Mick reset Barry’s shoulder after he hit wet cement and went flying into a light pole.”

“Not to mention, when my powers first showed up, Barry and Cisco had the pleasure of seeing me standing naked in front of the freezer.” Caitlin clears her throat, “…More than once.”

“Not like it’s a bad view.” Lisa winks at her. “The point is, we’re all in this weird unconventional relationship that makes perfect strangers give us looks on the street. So what if it doesn’t make sense? We’re a family. We just…redefine what that looks like.”

“Not bad.” Caitlin murmurs, a smile tugging hard at her mouth, “You should consider a career as a motivational speaker.”

“Oh god, no.” Lisa clutches her chest as if wounded, “Standing up there, telling strange people about how they can better themselves through hard work, dedication, and unchecked perseverance…Lenny would disown me.”

“Doctor Snow,” the nurse pops her head around the corner, right as Caitlin and Lisa are dissolving into a fit of shared laughter, “we’re ready for you.”

***

When they walk into the living room, an hour later, Cisco is reading (probably rereading) a pile of comic books and Barry is pacing a hole in the floor. Caitlin clears her throat and both of them jump to attention.

“So?” Cisco clutches his hands, looking fit to erupt from the anticipation. And he’s sweating.

Caitlin takes a heavy breath, holds it for a minute behind cupped palms, then expels it with a beaming grin, “It’s a boy!”

The comic books go flying everywhere as Cisco launches himself over the back of the couch. Barry is in hot pursuit. They both get there at the same time and engulf her in an embrace. Lisa shoves her way into the tangle of limbs. Caitlin is crying and laughing. Cisco is saying things in Spanish. Basically, they’ve lost their collective minds and it’s a glorious thing.

“Alright, Bro,” Lisa declares when they finally break apart, “you’ve kept me at bay for weeks – can I PLEASE go shopping?”

“After-hours only,” Barry says, and Caitlin suspects he’s been harboring this list in his head for a while, “and you’re only allowed to ‘shop’ the backroom storage of the bigger chains. Anything else, the more personal touches, we are buying with honest money.”

“Party pooper.”

“The honest money tidbit includes maternity clothes.” Caitlin sighs, rubbing her back absently, “I’ve pushed it as far as I can.”

“You’ll leave us out of that, right?” Cisco offers a hopeful grin…which immediately drops as soon as Caitlin and Lisa turn a smile on him (and Barry, by default) that really belongs on a crocodile’s face.

“Nice try.”

***

White streaks are rapidly peeking through the hazel tumble of curls: what started as a couple thin strands here-and-there have multiplied into prominent streams dribbling around her face and down the back. Caitlin gets compliments on the daily for the look, including questions about who her stylist is and what products are used.

Today is one of those days.

“…and _how_ did you get the color just right?” the saleswoman has been chattering for the last thirty minutes, organizing the clothing rack next to Caitlin at half the speed of her mouth, “I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it. Not even in the magazines.”

“Guess it’s a natural blend.” Caitlin shrugs, “You know how our hair always responds to dye differently? Mine just turns out this way.”

“How often do you have to reapply the color?”

“You know, I’m very lucky.” Caitlin smiles at her, determined that her poker face not fail her now, “The color holds a lot longer than expected. I haven’t had to do it again in months.”

“There you are, sweetie!” Lisa coos, much louder than strictly necessary, and twirls right into Caitlin’s space, arm flung low at the waist and chin perched on her shoulder, “I found the most _darling_ little outfit for you. Let’s go try it on!”

They leave the salesclerk with her jaw hanging open, and if Caitlin isn’t mistaken…a little jealous. Maybe that’s just the hormones talking. “You’re really working this ‘fake relationship’ angle, aren’t you, Lisa?” Caitlin grins, dipping her cheek into the other woman’s shoulder.

“The looks we get are _so_ worth it.” Lisa smirks, “But I really did find the cutest outfit for you. And it’s your color.”

Caitlin’s color being red. Very red. The deep and luscious shades of red that, on her, make grown men turn into salivating teenagers tripping over their own feet. Or, in Mick’s case, pin her onto the nearest available surface – including but not limited to walls, tables, office chairs, and kitchen counters.

“Just got a text from Cisco.” Lisa says a few minutes later, while Caitlin is holding up two different selections in front of the mirror, “Apparently he and Barry have…one cart each. Both filled to capacity.”

“Oh, for the love…” Caitlin sighs, “The nursery is only so big.”

“We can knock out a wall and make more room.”

“We don’t own the property, Lisa. We’re just leasing.”

“They won’t notice it.”

Caitlin rolls her eyes and heads back into the dressing room. Attempting to reason with any branch of this family is a lost cause.

***

“And just _what_ is wrong with the name ‘Mario’?”

There may be better things to be doing at two o’clock in the morning than sharing three different tubs of ice cream and carryout from a twenty-four-hour diner down the street, the four of them grouped together like puppies on the living room floor with Barry on his laptop skimming through the eternal list of options on babynames.com. But if there is in fact a better way to spend the wee morning hours, no one cares.

“The same thing that’s wrong with ‘Bartholomew’ and ‘Leonard’.” Barry answers; without looking away from the screen, he scoops a large spoonful of brownie-and-cookie ice cream, “You might as well tack a ‘Kick Me’ sign to the kid as soon as he comes out.”

Cisco sticks his tongue out and provides an opportunity which Lisa immediately capitalizes upon. They’ll come up for air in about twenty minutes, so Barry lifts his eyes from the computer screen to find Caitlin leaning against the base of the couch, fingers absently stroking the growing swell of her belly with a lazy smile.

“Hey, you,” he sits up, giving his eyes a break from the laptop screen, and scoots closer, “what’re you thinking about?”

She shrugs. The smile on her face is gentle, sweetly girlish, and fragile. Almost painfully fragile, like a piece of blown glass you’re afraid to pick up because a single touch might destroy it. “Thinking about the last year or so.” Caitlin murmurs, “How this all started…what’s happened between then and now…and this.” Her hand smooths over her stomach, “Especially this.”

“You know, the day’s gonna be here sooner than we think.” Barry sets his hand over hers, “Are you gonna be ready?”

The smile falters as she meets his eye, “Am I going to have to do this alone?”

“No. Absolutely not.” Barry kisses her forehead, “All four of us will be together. And I haven’t stopped trying to find a way to connect our Gideon with the _Waverider_. I will figure it out and Mick will be here to welcome his son into the world. I promise.”

Caitlin exhales slowly and the smile is back. “You know…I guess I could always name him ‘Barry’.” She grins, “Or…there really is something sophisticated about ‘Bartholomew’.”

“Don’t. You. Dare.”

***

An unusually calm evening is suddenly interrupted by a startled yelp and Caitlin nearly slipping out of her chair.

“Cait?” Barry zips to her side in a panic, “What is it? Are you in pain? Do you need—??”

“Give me your hand – give me your hand!” her voice is hushed, an excited tremor on the vocal chords, as she grabs clumsily for his hand and presses it to her belly. She moves it around, just a little, then turns a huge grin on him, “You feel that?”

Barry pauses, frowning for a minute…and then he feels it: a little kick, right around his palm. Then another one. “Oh…” the confusion melts away as a grin to match hers spreads across his face, “Oh my god…”

“Caitlin?” Cisco nearly trips over his own feet, running into the room with Lisa on his heels, “We heard a noise—”

“Come here, come here,” Caitlin motions frantically with her other hand, the smile so wide and prominent across her cheeks that it must hurt; once they’re within reach, she gets all three of them crowded tight around her belly, hands in the same general vicinity, “Can you feel it??”

“Oh…” Lisa echoes Barry’s breathless declaration, “Well, hello, little man…” her voice drops into a tender little coo as she crouches even closer, “Hi there…did you finally wake up?”

“He’s got some power going on in there.” Cisco grins like a fool, “Definitely like his dad.”

Barry squeezes Caitlin’s hand, drowning in the uninhibited joy of her smile, and lets himself bask in the moment. It won’t be long now. Not long at all.


	4. The Ties Which Bind Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unwelcome interaction has Caitlin's emotional state on the rocks. Lisa is there to help.

“I didn’t think the two of you were speaking?”

Lisa had plans to hit up a small satellite branch of the Central City National Bank, just for a little extra spending money, but when her phone pinged with a text from Caitlin absent any baby-related updates and lacking her flawless punctuation, like the message was just punched out and not proofread before sending, priorities simply had to be amended. She grabbed a couple pints of Caitlin’s favorite ice cream and beelined to the house.

Inside, she found Caitlin curled up on the couch with a blanket and four pillows. She looked like a kicked puppy whose tail tentatively started to wag when Lisa walked through the front door.

“We’re not.” Caitlin sniffles, dabbing her nose with a tissue. She’s halfway through the ice cream and taking a needed break before she gives herself brain freeze. “Apparently the universe is just mocking me now. All I was trying to do was drop off something at the post office. That’s it. Five-minute errand turned into forty-five minutes of lecture.”

“Since when does _she_ ,” Lisa puts extra venom on the emphasis, just because she knows it makes Caitlin feel better to have someone else share her feelings on the matter, “have any business telling you how to live your life?”

“Since I am apparently bringing shame upon the family name, unwed and pregnant and determinedly withholding the father’s name.”

“What is this, the nineteen-forties? Or is she just blind to the rock on your finger?” Lisa pops another spoonful of caramel pecan ice cream in her mouth, swallows, then blinks as the last part catches up, “Wait, why _did_ you withhold the father’s name?”

“It isn’t out of shame.” Caitlin says, a little harsher than necessary, but the hormones provide excuses for just about everything these days and Lisa doesn’t even blink, “I can’t have my mother running off and weaving a bull crap story about her poor naïve daughter being taken advantage of by the big, scary, evil _pyromaniac_.”

She spits out every word until the soft brown of her eyes is replaced with the piercing blue-white of fresh snow. Lisa gently strokes her face, brushing hair away with a tender motion, “You’re right.” She murmurs, and the ice fades from Caitlin’s gaze, “You know, a year ago I wouldn’t have even asked. Now…what we have, what we’ve built together…it feels so natural that I forget it only exists inside our little bubble. I forget…it’s not normal to the rest of the world.”

“Because it doesn’t matter. Or it shouldn’t.” Caitlin huffs and leans back into the pillows, “And then someone comes along who makes it matter and I have to act like I’m ashamed of Mick – the man I love to varying degrees of insanity and eagerly promised to spend the rest of my life with in front of an Elvis impersonator – just to keep that woman from starting a witch hunt.”

Lisa tips her head, “…You want me to shoot her?”

Caitlin turns with a look that looks so very much like a puppy waiting to be cuddled, “Yes.”

“Okay.” Lisa kisses her forehead, “I’ll shoot her. Twice. Once for making you cry,” her palm cups one side of the belly, where a little hand pushes back in response, “and once for questioning the exceptional stock you come from, little man.”

“Who needs school intervention?” Caitlin manages a tired but genuine smile, “Anyone tries to bully my baby boy, his god-mama will have them taken out in half a second.”

“Damn straight.” Lisa tosses her head proudly, “Just let some snot-nosed brat try messing with our boy. Put their sorry butt in the corner and their parents through the wall.”

Caitlin’s smile widens as she grips Lisa’s hand, “A year ago, I was on my way to being cold and alone and scared. If my powers had started appearing then…I don’t even know who I would be…except that…I would have become a monster. Angry and filled with hate and alone. Especially alone. Now…” she gives a watery chuckle, “…now I’m a wife…a mother, and we have something…extraordinary. Truly extraordinary. And it’s ours. We built it together and it’s ours.”

“And so is he.” Lisa strokes her stomach. “This little boy is ours, all of ours. It’ll be no different when I kick out a little rugrat or when Lenny finally gets down to business and makes me an official auntie.”

“You do know he and Barry are missing certain equipment for that, right?”

“Details.” She waves a hand, “The point is, he needs to hurry up. I want to be an auntie. And I want one of each.”

“Yeah…you and your brother have fun with that conversation.” Caitlin smirks.

“Oh, please. All I have to do is give the pout.”

“…the pout?”

“The _pout_ ,” Lisa grins wickedly, “ _Do_ allow me to introduce you.”


	5. At Long Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time has come. Whether everyone is ready for the big day is...up for debate.

Over the last two weeks, there have been at least four false alarms. Lisa is now permanently sleeping in the bed with Caitlin, and both Barry and Cisco have started going to bed fully-dressed – down to the shoes. No one has time for trying to button pants the right way or figuring out whose shirt belongs to who at two a.m.

Caitlin is growing frustrated with the whole ordeal. She’s tried every internet remedy, from the doctor-recommended to home-grown solutions on expecting-mom blogs – except for sex. Sex is one remedy she has not attempted for reasons which do not need to be further explained.

After the fourth trip to the hospital, Barry officially puts Caitlin on bedrest. Meaning, she’s allowed to get up for the bathroom and that’s it. Everything else, Lisa or Cisco handle for her. Their townhouse is closer to the hospital than S.T.A.R. Labs, so they’ve essentially set up shop in the living room. As the Flash, Barry is taking care of business at record speeds, because he has no patience for gun-slinging bank robbers when the baby could come at any minute.

The only time he ventures to S.T.A.R. Labs is to try, _again_ , to contact the _Waverider_. The lack of success is wearing thin on his nerves almost as much as it is on Caitlin’s.

This morning, she outright defied his bedrest orders and insisted he bring her to the lab. She wants fresh air, she wants a different venue, she wants out of the house. Barry has enough sense of self-preservation to not argue, though he’s a little worried about how traveling at this speed will affect the baby. He takes it at a brisk jog and breathes easy when they get to the elevator and all is well. She’s complaining of discomfort in her lower back, but that’s nothing new.

Three hours later, all is no longer well.

Barry rounds the corner, muttering under his breath about what good is future technology that it can develop an A.I. but that said A.I. can’t link to a sister program just because the latter belongs to some time-traveling spaceship from the future manned by heroic idiots doing unheroic things to the timeline and—

“Caitlin?” he zips across the room and catches her gently before she loses her balance, “Caitlin, what is it?”

“…It’s time.” Her voice is weak and her eyes are terrified, “I can feel it. It’s time.”

Oh dear.

“ _Mr. Allen,_ ” Gideon’s voice makes him jump half a foot in the air; however lulling the feminine tone, it’s enough to give him half a heart attack when it’s coming from all sides of the room, “ _I have successfully contacted my adjacent program aboard the Waverider, as you requested. A Mister Snart has answered the call and is awaiting your response. Should I connect you?_ ”

Oh boy.

“Hold that thought, Gideon.” Barry says, as politely as he can, and sprints down the hall yelling for Cisco and Lisa to stop whatever they’re doing and get to the main level NOW. By the time he gets back – which was under ten seconds, if that, Caitlin in on her knees, arm tight around her belly, and moaning like she’s being tortured for military secrets.

“Okay, just breathe. Keep breathing.” Barry repeats, the best mantra he can think of, as he gets her into the medical wing and onto the bed. Being on her knees, while perhaps more natural, cannot be comfortable right now. Not to mention, he needs to check how far along she is if for no other reason than to feel like he’s contributing something when the paramedics show up.

“What’s going on?” Cisco nearly runs into the doorframe on a sharp left turn, “Is it time? It looks like it’s time.” He pulls out his phone, “I’m calling the ambulance.”

“…Oh.”

“Oh?” Cisco pauses mid-dial, “What’s ‘oh’? Why are we saying ‘oh’?”

Barry leans back and retracts his hand from between her legs – which is definitely not as sexy as it sounds. “Caitlin,” he clears his throat, “…you’re fully dilated.”

So much for no consequences of speeding her to the lab. _Nice going, Allen._

Her eyes widen like a deer in the headlights. “Is that bad?” Cisco asks, “It sounds bad. Why is it bad?”

“It means,” Barry shucks off his sweater and t-shirt because modesty is overrated and he loves this sweater too much to sacrifice it, “we’re not gonna make it to the hospital. Both of you, find some clothes you don’t mind getting dirty and then get me every towel, sheet, or other covering that we have in this place and do it _now_!”

Lisa and Cisco scatter. Barry clears his throat again, then speaks at a louder volume, “Gideon, now you may connect the call.”

A soft _beep_ follows, like a voicemail machine, and then Len’s voice crackles through the intercom, “ _Not nice to keep me waiting, Barry._ ”

“No time for that, babe.” Barry says, talking about as fast as he takes a morning jog, “Caitlin is pregnant. Caitlin is in labor. Caitlin is about to have this kid in five minutes so both you and Mick get your _asses_ to S.T.A.R. Labs _right now_! Love you – See you soon – Bye – Gideon, disconnect the call.”

He's fairly certain the A.I. didn’t officially disconnect before the first major contraction hits and Caitlin releases a startled shriek. _That_ should do wonders for Mick’s blood pressure. “ _Ohmigod_ …Barry, I can’t.” she chokes, “I can’t, I’m not…I’m not ready!”

“Caitlin Snow, you are more than ready.” He grips her knee, “You are one of the bravest people I know – and you’re definitely one of the strongest. Right now, you might just be _the_ strongest. It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna hurt a lot, but it’ll be okay and then he’ll be here and you’re going to be the absolute best mom this baby could ever hope for. Do you believe that?”

“No.” she whimpers, sweat beading at her forehead, “But if you spin a few more speeches like that, I might.”

“I’ll write you a hundred speeches if that’ll help.” He promises, then shifts back to kneel between her legs, “Alright…let’s do this.”

“Do you even know what you’re doing??”

“I read twelve different manuals on home delivery in the last week.” Barry meets her shocked expression with a little grin, “What kind of godfather would I be otherwise?”

***

One hour ticks into two. Two hours tick into three. Three hours… And now they’re pushing around the seventh hour, maybe eighth. Hardly the longest labor Barry has ever heard of – his mother used to affectionately tease about the twenty-two hours it took to bring him into the world – but being a short labor hardly means it’s an easy one. Caitlin alternates between screaming and cursing with every push, and Barry is learning enough new words to write a small dictionary.

“Towels coming through! Towels coming through!” Cisco’s voice can be heard all the way down the hall before he runs into the room like a waterboy on the football field, “I’ve got towels coming through!”

“Yes, sweetie, you have towels.” Lisa and Barry have been balancing the books as the calm ones during all this: while Barry plays doctor, Lisa has been wiping the sweat from Caitlin’s forehead and neck and feeding her ice-water before she completely overheats. Her favored leather jacket and silk blouse are discarded on the chair beside Barry’s sweater, replaced with a S.T.A.R. Labs t-shirt that’s two-sizes too big. “Put them over here, please.”

“You’re doing great, Caitlin.” Barry murmurs gently, “You’re doing great. We’re getting there.”

He doubts his words are providing any real comfort given that they’re doing this without a drop of morphine (Caitlin refuses to be under the influence of anything these days, and Barry is pretty sure that – like himself – her metabolism burns right through it), but fortunately something – rather, someone – arrives just in time to do exactly that.

“Mick!” Caitlin sobs, partially a noise of distress as another contraction ripples through but mostly relief as she helplessly reaches with both hands, “Oh my god, Mick…”

The large man nearly engulfs her in both arms and buries his mouth in her hairline, “Right here, baby.” His voice is low, an oddly soothing rumble as she clings to him, “You just keep hold, ‘kay? Break my arm if you need to.”

“Don’t tempt her.” Lisa cracks a small grin, “She almost broke my hand twice within the first hour.”

Only half-listening to the conversation around him, Barry’s head suddenly emerges from what feels like its new permanent location of between her thighs, “We’re getting there—we’re getting there! I see the head!”

“Jesus _Christ_ – does that mean it’s almost _OUT_?!” Caitlin explodes; even Lisa winces a little at being so close to that outburst.

“The head?” Cisco asks, perpetually the lost puppy during this whole deal, “What do you mean the…?”

Evidently, he caught a glimpse of exactly what Barry meant, because there’s suddenly a loud thud as Cisco faints dead away.

“Lisa, would you mind checking on that?” Barry waves a hand in the general vicinity, not looking away from his main focus, “Caitlin, I need a couple more pushes, and we’re done.”

“Bartholomew Allen,” Caitlin grits, “if it takes more than exactly _two pushes_ to get this kid out of me, I’m going to freeze every drop of blood in your veins.”

“Duly noted. First push now, if you please.”

From behind, he distantly hears the smack of Lisa’s hand across Cisco’s cheek, followed by a loud whine of protest. Relationship goals, ladies and gentlemen.

Barry feels Len press to his side, crowded into his space in a way which (for once) is perfectly clinical. “Last one, Caitlin.” Len says, before Barry can even get half a word out, “Just give it all you got without breaking your back.”

Barry turns to look at him. Hard. “What?” Len returns the look with a raised eyebrow, “Who do you think helped deliver Lisa?”

…Okay, fine: he deserves the ‘you’re an idiot’ look for that one.

“One more,” Caitlin’s voice is hoarse from screaming, “and that’s _it_.”

“One more.” Barry affirms with a nod; to his side, he feels Len shift away, then hears someone rustling around in the pile of towels on the cabinet, “Let’s do this.”

The scream is almost enough to shatter both windows and eardrums, drawn out as Caitlin pushes until Barry briefly fears her heart might give out, then the tail-end of her scream is picked up by a warbling little cry: soft at first, then louder. Louder as tiny lungs gulp down the first breath of true air.

“I got him,” Len murmurs, towel already catching the little body and wrapping him up in the fluffy folds, “I got him—take care of that.” He nods at the umbilical cord. Finally, the part Barry can do with his speed. Caitlin has waited long enough.

The clean-up job is quick, not perfect, but they can be more thorough later. For now, all that matters is the way Caitlin’s eyes are shining, an exhausted but enraptured smile on her face, and the sight of that tiny bundle encased in her arms. “Hey, you,” she whispers, stroking a thumb over his little cheek, “we’ve been waiting for you.”

Barry exhales slowly and drops fully to his knees. He feels like he just ran twelve marathons at top speed.

A mouth presses softly to his damp hairline, a show of tender affection he normally doesn’t receive when there’s an audience, and any lingering tension melts at the gesture, “Hey,” he mumbles, dropping his head into Len’s shoulder.

“Hey, yourself.”

“How long before your captain notices he’s missing part of his ship?”

“The captain can kiss my ass.” Mick declares, thumb stroking the dainty roll of a little head. His dark eyes are wide, drinking in every detail of his son with pure rapture. Barry has only ever seen the man look like this when he’s staring at fire…or his wife. Now, the mother of his child. Somehow, this expression looks far more natural than Barry initially expected.

Len taps Barry on the side, “You’re a mess.” He says, not without a bit of affection, and nudges Barry toward the general direction of the bathroom, “Go get cleaned up.”

“You offering to help?” Barry cracks a tired grin and noses under his lover’s jaw. The stubble is more pronounced than he’s seen before, a scattering of dark hair mixed with grey, and he likes the look. Likes it a lot.

“Shower. Now.” Len smacks him on the ass for good measure, “Then we talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Once again, I will emphasize this is the comic book/TV diet version of being in labor. This is in no way meant to accurately represent the process involved in bringing a baby into this world.


	6. You Are So Precious To Me (Baby of Mine)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nine months of anxiety, uncertainty, and general craziness. It's all come to this: a single perfect moment.

It’s been a couple hours. Lisa and Cisco abandoned their posts five minutes ago in favor of getting Cisco some seriously-needed caffeine. Barry and Len are elsewhere – meaning, no one has any idea where _exactly_ they are in the lab – and the medical wing is silent with the exception of tiny noises coming from the white bundle in Caitlin’s arms.

“You ever leave me again,” she whispers, “and I’ll roast you with your own gun.”

The low rumble of Mick’s laughter passes across her hair, “Yeah, I know.” The familiarity of his scent – smoke, copper, and the salt of sweat – settles back into her senses. Feels like being wrapped snugly in a warm blanket in front of the hearth while snow falls outside.

His fingers loosely tangle with hers atop the folds, directly beside their son’s cheek. “God, I love you…” Mick exhales slowly, “Look at him. He’s perfect.”

“He’s yours.” Caitlin mumbles sleepily, “Already makes him perfect.”

“Think your perspective is a little off, baby.” He kisses the cooling sweat away from her forehead, “Not complaining, though.”

“Someone get the camera.” Len’s voice breaks the silence in an amused drawl, “Mick Rory has gone domestic.”

Caitlin knows Mick just flipped his partner the bird but pretends otherwise. “We never did settle on a name.” Barry comes up beside her other side, hair damp from his shower, wearing a S.T.A.R. Labs sweatshirt with matching sweatpants hanging a little loose on his hips.

“Sure we did.” Caitlin smiles while her fingers stroke the tiny bridge of nose, “Michael Bartholomew Rory.”

“ _Caitlin_ …” Barry groans like he’s dying and drops his face in a palm.

“There was no way I was going to waste that opportunity, Barry.” She grins, “Besides, I’m the one who has lost my waistline, the ability to smell pizza, and half my sanity to scream this child into the world. I claim all naming rights for my son.”

Barry holds up his hands in surrender. “I like that name.” Lisa chirps; squeezing between her brother and Barry, she loops an arm each around their shoulders and plops her cheek on Len’s bicep, “And I _really_ like having my big brother back home instead of galivanting across the universe.”

“Point taken, Sis.”

“Alright, alright…everyone clear the room.” Mick grunts, waving the hand not currently cradling Caitlin’s head to his shoulder, “Mama and Daddy need alone time.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself…” Lisa turns her grin on Cisco, looking very much like a lioness ready to gorge on her recent kill. In the time it takes anyone to blink, they’ve vacated the room again and it’s anyone’s guess if Cisco walked out or was carried out.

“Barry,” Len taps him lightly in the side and jerks his head toward the door before adding, “Get some sleep, Caitlin.”

She should be sleeping, start to regulate her internal clock again, but Mick’s heat is warm and solid against her back, his fingers are in her hair, and she can put off sleep just a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks! Comments and kudos, as always, are love. I hope you enjoyed reading this little bit of self-indulgence as much as I enjoyed writing it and sharing it with you all. :D

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Beautiful Sight (We're Happy Tonight)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28198914) by [NoelleAngelFyre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoelleAngelFyre/pseuds/NoelleAngelFyre)




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